Okayama

Friday Morning we took off early to Okayama. Unexpectedly, it was raining all over Japan that day, and especially heavily in Okayama, the driest city in Japan. This is another city where Jonathan served his mission, and it is the home of Mr. Fugiwara. Mr. Fugiwara is one of the most interesting men I have ever encountered. Although he has never lived abroad, he speaks impeccable English. His vocabulary rivals any American college student. He is serious and careful, and he worships my husband. When I met Mr. Fugiwara, the first thing he said to me was, “Your husband is the smartest man I have ever known.” Jonathan smiled and tried to humbly brush off the compliment, but Mr. Fugiwara delivered the praise with such poise and reverence it would be impossible to not accept such a remark with, thank you. Mr. Fugiwara took the day off, something unheard of among Japanese business men, and chauffeured us around to what he considered to be the most remarkable sites in the area. For about 8 hours we were at the will of Mr. Fugiwara and his American sized Toyota; it was a wonderful day. This was the first opportunity I had to truly interact with a Japanese person, because although Mr. Fugiwara could speak English like a native, he certainly was pure Japanese.

The first place we visited was a Zen temple. At this temple, men and women from all over the world come to find enlightenment through Zen mediation. This means that they shave their heads, wear robes, live in the temple communally, and meditate for 5-10 hours each day. When we visited we talked to a man from Seattle who had been at the Zen temple for a couple of years now. It was very strange. I know it sounds like a double standard, but I can understand and almost approve of Japanese people deciding to become Zen followers, but seeing and talking with an American man about Zen, while he’s standing there with a shaved head and robes made me not take him as seriously as I should have. The grounds were beautiful and especially in the rain. Perfect for meditation.

My favorite part of the day was when we met Mrs. Fugiwara for lunch. Mrs. Fugiwara is opposite of Mr. Fugiwara in every way. She is slightly chubby for a Japanese woman, something Mr. Fuiwara mentioned to us earlier in the car. He said she was “mochi, mochi” and that he didn’t care because they had been married for almost 30 years. She is all smiles, and although she couldn’t speak a word of English, I laughed at what she said just because of the delivery. It seems that she too is quite taken with Jonathan, not because of his intellect, but because of his good looks and charm. During lunch Mr. Fugiwara challenged Jonathan to write the most difficult kanji that he could think of, and after Jonathan would write it, Mrs. Fugiwara would analyze his handwriting. It was a very fun game.

Towards the end of lunch we talked about a famous festival that takes place in Okayama each year on the 3rd Saturday in February called, “The Naked Man’s Festival”. During this festival all the men in town dress up in loin clothes and gather around the Shrine in the middle of the city. At the stroke of midnight, a priest (the priest-ship has been handed down from father to son for generations at this temple) pulls out two chopsticks and tosses them into the crowd from a small window at the top of the temple. The man who catches these chopsticks will be blessed with good fortune for the rest of the year. He is known around the city as the “Good Luck Man”, not to mention that he wins a handsome monetary reward. This is not some gentle affair either, this past festival a man was stomped to death. Jonathan mentioned that he wanted to be in town one year to participate in the festival. Mrs. Fugiwara promised that if he would come she would tie his loin cloth (fundoshi) for him, “nice and tight and only for him”. Wow. That was the most hilarious thing I had the whole week I had been in Japan.

After visiting the Shrine in the middle of the city, Mr. Fugiwara took us on an hour long car ride to see the first public school for commoners in the world. It was an amazing site. The school is beautiful and for it to be offered to commoners was unheard of not only in Japan but also in the Western world at that time. The buildings were beautiful, but there was also an amazing stone wall that surrounds the campus that has been standing tall and strong for hundreds of years. The wall is made from stones molded and carved to fit almost seamlessly together. It was also quite a work of art.

By the end of the day we were exhausted. Jonathan had taken us on this wild goose chase to find a transient guy he used to know who wore a Kimono every day and was an archer by trade. Jonathan was very impressed with the man because apparently he had no worldly possessions and calibrated his daily activities by the position of the sun. We got passed around to 5 people before we found the person who knew this archer’s contact information, including a woman who apparently rushed out of the bath to answer the door and was yelling through the thick wood standing bare naked on the other side. Awkward. I was annoyed, of course, but Jonathan was so happy that we found the archer’s address, I couldn’t help but be excited too. Our hotel room was very, very Japanese with tatami mats and everything. The hotel had a coin operated washer and dryer, something we desperately needed. So we took the night to wash clothes, catch up on some emails, and eat our favorite snacks from the local Lawson’s (a little convenient store on every other street corner in Japan). The Japanese have perfected the art of making cream puffs. I think I’ve had at least one (and they’re giant) every day since I’ve arrived on this little island. This could possibly be aiding and abetting my rebellious gallbladder, but, oh well.

Zen Temple grounds.
This place was so beautiful. I'm standing on a little bridge over this pond. Trees were surrounding me and the rain hitting the leaves and the water made sublime music for my ears.
Jonathan and I are feeling the Zen.
Jonathan with Mr. and Mrs. Fugiwara.
This is the guardian of the holy water at the Naked Man Festival Temple.
The Rhino somehow became a kind of mascot for this temple.
This is an ancient drawing of the Naked Man Festival.
And this is a photograph of the Naked Man Festival today. Doesn't it look out of control. I like how my camera self censored the man's bum out of the picture with the flash. I knew buying a new camera in Japan would be a sound investment.
Some of the Temple decor. It's not really gold, just painted.

This is the cool stone wall surrounding the first commoner public school in the world. It's so amazing how they mold the stones to fit perfectly together.
Jonathan and Mr. Fugiwara.
Here they are playing the "Who knows more Japanese Kanji" game. Jonathan is a show-off.
We are students at the commoner school. See how I am sitting slightly behind Jonathan? That's how they do it in Japan.
This is the lecture hall at the commoner school.